Man injured in shooting outside Levels Lounge

Bar among those facing closure

LIMA — Levels Lounge, one of the downtown bars facing possible closure because of high number of calls to Lima police, was the scene of a shooting early Monday morning.

Shots were fired by an unknown person into a car in the parking lot of the 122 E. North St. bar around 2:30 a.m. Monday, according to Lima Police Department Detective Steve Stechschulte

The driver of the car, Watson Lindsey, 56, of Lima was struck in the arm and taken to Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical, where he was treated and released.

An early report indicated that five persons were arrested at the scene, but later Monday morning, Stechschulte said those arrests were for unrelated violations.

“At this point there have been no charges filed related to the shooting,” he said.

The city of Lima earlier this year began an aggressive push to reduce or eliminate the number of downtown establishments which it believes are known to host or tolerate illegal activities which often lead to violence.

City Law Director Anthony Geiger in January filed a nuisance lawsuit with the Allen County Clerk of Courts office targeting Levels Lounge, which goes by several names, including Beantown Saloon.

In the lawsuit filed by the city, Helen Ruth Investments LLC is identified as the owner of the property; Thelma Banks is the holder of a liquor permit issued by the state of Ohio and a managing member of Helen Ruth Investments and Michael Liles is identified in the suit as someone who “may be a manager or other operator” of the premises.

The property is for sale, according to signs in the windows of the establishment.

The Lima chapter of the NAACP had scheduled a press conference for last Friday in front of the bar, but the event was canceled at the last minute.